I’m kind of obsessed with people going through transition and how they talk about it. Not just because I’m mean and don’t want anyone to ever be stable, but because some big stuff bubbles up during these periods. And I’m struggling with my own transition as things wind down with my book tour and I try to figure out where the hell I’m going.

I’m sure if you look at it a certain way, everyone is going through transition — everything between birth and death is transition. But all metaphysical bullshit aside, there are these two friends and bloggers who I’m a little obsessed with right now. These are two totally different people in totally different realms. Both going through transitions. Please don’t tell them I’m obsessed… they might laugh and point. More so.

So I’m experimenting with an entirely different website theme. Even though I liked my previous dark and dreary theme, it was getting to be a pain to fine-tune and it was not so mobile-device-friendly. I’m trying out a new theme by Spyr Media. What do you think? I feel like I just walked in to a new bar and I’m still testing out its vibe. I’m still not positive that I’m dressed right for this place. I’m still exploring their cocktail menu. But I think I like it. If you don’t like it, let’s blame Michael Schechter over at bettermess.com. He’s had a nasty habit of giving me a lot of smart advice lately.

By the way, a new video will post on July 14th. It will also be about change.

I started out this video with the intent of trying to get writers to stop using Microsoft Word and ended up paying tribute to an overly-sentimental romantic comedy from the 80s. It’s a new level of failure.

Even though I’m passionate about the writing tools that I use, I also worry about spending too much time thinking about the tools rather than thinking about the product. I’d rather have a clunky tool and solid writing practice than a brilliant tool and little to show with it.

Last week, a few friends mocked me about my affection for Apple products and so I got this idea to record a video making fun of me and my gadgets. Except I couldn’t get the video funny enough, and I was whispering the whole time because I’m a nervous weirdo (and my toddler was asleep in the next room), and my editing job is just psychotic, and now I just need to get my ass back to writing and stop fiddling with this silly video. But I still didn’t want to throw it away entirely.

So here it is. My failed, not-so-funny attempt at an Apple Fanboy gag:

So although this is only relevant to Portland writers, I still wanted to share with everyone that I’m going to teach three writing workshops in June using my videos as the launching point (aka: as a crutch for my stage fright).

I don’t know what people officially classify these things but I call them computers. And I do heavy-duty writing (or writing-related) tasks on all three of these computers. But I do slightly different things with each one. So I stupidly end up carrying all three around with me most of the time. Bad on my back (and bad for the way people mock me), but good for my writing.

So in a zany twist of events, I swindled my way onto two great, geeky podcasts. Both of these shows relate to how I use the Mac/iPad/iPhone, mostly with regard to my videos, but also for my novel writing. If you’re a Mac geek (or a wannabe Mac geek) read on. For those anti-geek / anti-productivity / anti-Apple / anti-Semitic followers, I’m sorry. (OK. That last “anti” has nothing to do with anything, it just seemed to add some heft to the list…) In either case, I’ll soon try to swindle my way onto literary podcasts to balance things out better.

I’m totally erratic on Facebook. I’ve missed important births and deaths due to my erraticness.

I have an interest in Pinterest that apparently isn’t strong enough for me to try it. Or even to understand what it is.

Google+… I don’t use except to apologize to people who have sadly included me in their circle.

I signed up but still can’t get rolling with Goodreads.

But… I love Twitter.

I haven’t been on Twitter long but I find it a fabulous place to loiter. Though in order for me to enjoy it, I follow some rules. Now keep in mind that my goal is just to enjoy the thing, not to maximize followers or sell something. Sure, it would be nice if three or more of my followers bought my book, and I’m sure that I’ll ocassionally mention book release details, but it sounds painful to think about making $$$ on twitter. My goal is to enjoy the experience enough to actually stick around.

As a person who spends an utterly insane number of hours reading and writing on digital thingies, the quality of the text on these thingies is important to me. And it’s pretty remarkable to look at text on this new iPad. It’s actually too hard to characterize in words how words look on this device. So I thought I’d share the results of a study that I (supposedly) performed.

I’m a coward. When faced with a big project – something time consuming, something that will require sacrifices to be made – my instinct is to run away. Fast. No looking back. For that reason, it took me a long time to come around to the point where I (somewhat) enjoy the challenge of a big project. I’m talking about something like writing a novel or being in a long-term relationship. These are things that require work. Day after day. Month after month. Year after year.

The funny thing is that a key method I use to confront these big projects is so simple, so low-tech (so cheap in therapy costs!) that it almost seems like it’s cheating. And here it is: